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The Result
Phillies - 1 runs to 0

The Curve - Year-to-Date
64 wins and 62 losses

Brett's Position and the Batting Order
Playing - First base
Batting - #5

Brett's at-bats
First plate appearance
Righthanded pitcher
Led off the innings
......and now click on the "PLAY" button

Bouncing ball to the first-baseman who flipped to the pitcher covering the base ...... out 3 to 1
The audio clip includes a "HAPPY BIRTHDAY" call to Sharon!!!
Second plate appearance
Righthanded pitcher
Runner at first base - two down
......and now click on the "PLAY" button

A swinging strike out

At the end of the Game
0 hit from 2 at-bats - 1 x strike out

Heard during the game

Email from Brett

Game Reports

Reading Phillies' right-hander Carlos Carrasco added to the Curve's recent offensive struggles Tuesday evening, tossing a rain-shortened, six-inning no-hitter in a 1-0 win over Altoona at FirstEnergy Stadium in Reading, PA

Carrasco, a 20-year old native of Venezuela, who is rated by Baseball America as the Philadelphia Phillies' No. 1 prospect, kept his no-hitter intact after retiring Peter Bergeron, Vic Buttler and Russ Johnson in order in the top of the sixth

In the bottom of the inning, just as Curve starter Dewon Brazelton was about throw his first pitch, the game was halted by the umpiring crew
After waiting 1 hour and 37 minutes, the game was officially called giving the R-Phils their second straight win over the Curve to open the series

Altoona (64-62) has now lost six straight games and drops behind Reading into fifth place in the Eastern League's Southern Division

Carrasco is the second pitcher this season to toss a rain-shortened no-hitter against the Curve
Trenton Thunder right-hander Brett Smith was credited with a no-hitter in an abbreviated, five-inning contest on July 4 at Waterfront Park in Trenton, New Jersey

Brazelton (4-4) was handed a tough-luck loss in the game, allowing only one run and seven hits over five innings
The 27-year old right-hander, who tossed a nine-inning complete game in a win last Wednesday at Binghamton, gave up his only run in the bottom of the second on an RBI groundout by shortstop Joey Hammond

Carrasco (5-3) allowed only three baserunners in the contest, walking Bergeron and Adam Boeve and hitting Jason Bowers with a pitch

The no-hitter marked the third consecutive game in which the Curve have been shutout

Dating back to the ninth inning of Friday's game against Erie, Altoona has managed just one run in 30 innings

The Curve will look to end their six-game losing streak in Wednesday's series finale at FirstEnergy Stadium
Altoona will send right-hander Luis Munoz (10-5, 4.09) to the mound against Phillies' righty Chris Rojas (6-3, 4.98)

As of August 15, the Phillies owned the only pitching staff in the Eastern League that had not recorded so much as a single shutout
All of a sudden, FirstEnergy Stadium has become the place where opponents' batting averages have come to fall apart like tissues on a Dean's list

Twenty-year-old Carlos Carrasco, the No 1 prospect in the Philadelphia organization, finally fulfilled his vast potential and delivered what a lot of people have been waiting for in his 12th Double-A start - a signature outing
The precocious right-hander threw a rain-shortened, six-inning no-hitter - the first of its kind in franchise history - as the Phillies edged the Altoona Curve 1-0 before 5,925 rain-soaked fans

Commanding both sides of the plate with his crackling fastball, and displaying a filthy changeup and a curveball that improved as the game grew, the 6-3, 170-pound Venezuelan was totally in command
He began the game with his first of two walks, retired the next 11 batters, then gave up a two-out walk in the fourth
He plunked a batter - on an 0-2 count - to lead off the fifth, the only Altoona batter to reach scoring position

Following a 1-2-3 sixth, the skies opened up
An hour and 37 minutes later, a relentless rainfall put a halt to the night

"I saw a guy who commanded three pitches and got a lot of poor swings in the process" said Phillies pitching coach Tom Filer
"I think rehabbing Rod Barajas had a little bit to do with his outing, giving him a lot more confidence, knowing he had a major leaguer behind the plate
It was just an outstanding game tonight, watching him pitch
He looked like a different guy
We've been hearing so much about his changeup and about how good it was, but we just hadn't seen it the way it was tonight"

Barajas had never even seen Carrasco before, never mind catching him
He was impressed
"The changeup is a real good pitch for him" Barajas said
"It's not a straight change - it has a little more downward action, kind of like a split-finger fastball
He throws it in the strike zone and he gets swings on it
As long as he's able to keep it over the plate he should be fine
Overall he was great
I heard he was having trouble with his control and walking a lot of guys
That being the case, I decided I was going to set up on the plate
I wasn't going to go in the corners and give him a lot of plate to work with
He kept his fastball in the strike zone, and his changeup was outstanding
He even mixed in some pretty good curveballs
From what I saw he was as good as advertised
I was real impressed with his outing"

Carrasco (5-3) was coming off three dreadful outings in which his ERA was an aggregate 9.19
He had walked 10 and allowed a whopping 19 hits in 13.2 innings
So nobody saw this one coming
Maybe he was inspired by Gary Knotts' complete-game one-hitter Thursday against Erie
Or maybe Josh Outman's eight-inning four-hit shutout Monday night did it for him
Whatever it was, the performance likely eased a lot of minds in Philadelphia

Through teammate interpreter Chris Rojas, Carrasco agreed his fastball and changeup were special Tuesday night
"I had the changeup going on in Clearwater" Carrasco said
"I finally got it back today
I'm very happy, but it was more important that we won tonight
Of course, it is something I can build on, and I hope to get a lot better from here"

The Phillies scored the game's only run in the second inning off Dewon Brazleton (4-4)
Jason Hill led off with a single
One out later, Greg Jacobs doubled sharply to right, Hill stopping at third
He came across on Joey Hammond's groundout to third

Also notable, Shane Victorino and Barajas were in the lineup on major league rehab assignments
Victorino went 1-for-3, Barajas 0-for-2
Victorino opened in center field and moved to right in the sixth inning
Barajas caught the entire game
He had the best seat in the house for the coming-out party hosted by Carlos Carrasco

Notes
The Curve was shut out a third straight game, a first in the franchise's nine-year history
Conversely, the three straight shutouts recorded by the Phillies might also be a first for them
The Curve posted two outfield assists in the third inning, one at second (Vic Buttler) and the other at home (Peter Bergeron) to nab a tagging Shane Victorino
With his 34th double, Greg Jacobs jumped to fourth on the franchise single-season list in that category - he trails David Doster (39, 1995), Kevin Barker (38, 2004) and Travis Chapman (35, 2002)
The Phillies (65-52) won their fifth straight and jumped ahead of the slumping Curve (64-62) into fourth place in the Southern Division
The Curve, losers of six straight, have scored one run in the last 30 innings
Carlos Carrasco's no-hitter was the 10th in Phillies franchise history

This is a bad, bad time for the Curve
Their season is collapsing, their playoff hopes are vanishing and their offense has fallen apart

If they thought things couldn’t get much worse, they were wrong
Altoona fell victim to a no-hitter Tuesday night in a 1-0 loss at Reading

It was a rain-shortened, six-inning game, but it still goes down as a no-hitter for 20-year-old R-Phils pitcher Carlos Carrasco

The Curve have lost six in a row and suffered a franchise low point, getting shut out three consecutive games for the first time ever

Altoona’s offense is mired in a terrible slump, scoring just one run in the last 30 innings
Three times in the past four games, the Curve have been no-hit going into the sixth inning

Carrasco, the Philadelphia Phillies’ No 1 prospect, struck out eight, walked two and hit a batter in his milestone effort
It was the first individual no-hitter of his career, though he also combined for one with another pitcher last season at low-A Lakewood
Carrasco threw seven no-hit innings against Lexington in that one

Tuesday marked the second time the Curve have been no-hit this season, both in rain-shortened games
Trenton’s Brett Smith threw a five-inning no-hitter against Altoona on July 4

Reading scored the only run it needed in the second inning off Curve starter Dewon Brazelton
Joey Hammond’s groundout brought home Jason Hill from third

Carrasco (5-3), who came in with a 5.40 ERA, cruised all night
Then he got some help from Mother Nature as rain halted the game in the bottom of the sixth inning
The umpires waited 1 hour, 37 minutes before calling it

Brazelton (4-4) was credited with his second consecutive complete game but took the loss
He allowed one run on seven hits in five innings